


Pretty

by hereforwords



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Mission Fic, Slow Dancing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, heavy quotes cause the mission is a wedding, pinning naruto, sasuke spends like half this fic blushing, team seven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hereforwords/pseuds/hereforwords
Summary: Sasuke was kind of pretty.It wasn't a thought Naruto wanted to have, in fact it was one that he'd been doing everything to avoid letting take shape in his mind. But sometimes Sasuke was just too much.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 17
Kudos: 120





	Pretty

**Author's Note:**

> make a dentist appointment folks, this is just 7k of fluff

Sasuke was kind of pretty. 

It wasn't a thought Naruto wanted to have, in fact it was one that he'd been doing everything to avoid letting take shape in his mind. It felt weird and unlike him, to look at Sasuke the way everyone else always had. Sasuke had always just been Sasuke to him, and that was the last thing Naruto had expected to change when he finally managed to bring Sasuke home. But in some way the thought was always there at the back of his mind now, no matter how small or far away it felt. It hadn't felt small for a long time.

Naruto had found it endlessly annoying when they were young, always irritated for a thousand different reasons every time a group of girls would giggle when Sasuke went by. He'd always thought he'd been jealous of Sasuke, but now that Sasuke had been back long enough for girls to start looking at him again Naruto couldn't claim that he wished he was Sasuke in those moments anymore. All he could seem to think was that a stranger could never begin to appreciate what they were really seeing when they looked at Sasuke. 

He saw it all, probably more of Sasuke than anyone else. But Naruto could see what a stranger would enjoy about looking at Sasuke now, he couldn't deny it.

Naruto still had no idea what to do about it, stuck inside when they got too close during training, lost to endless pointless possibilities when Sasuke looked at him in a rare moment of open fondness. Naruto couldn't even make himself think about what he actually wanted, doing everything he could most days not to think of just that. But sometimes Sasuke was just too much. Sometimes Naruto could only look at Sasuke and ache for everything he didn't understand left between them, the thousand unsaid moments Naruto couldn't believe he'd managed to ignore for so long.

"What is it?" Sasuke snapped.

"What?" 

Sasuke turned on his stool where they were sitting together getting lunch, leveling Naruto with a completely unimpressed look. "You've hardly touched your food." Sasuke seemed to glare even harder than usual for a moment. "And why does your face look like that?"

"Damn Sasuke, a guy can't ponder life in peace?"

Sasuke turned back forward on his stool, but not fast enough for Naruto to miss his eye roll. "Sure, pondering life. Okay."

"I could be!"

Sasuke looked back at him from the corner of his eye. "But you're not."

Naruto felt his expression go petulant, lower lip sticking out. Some part of being around Sasuke again always made him want to argue like a child, and Naruto wasn't sure the feeling would ever go away. It felt impossible that anything he'd ever felt would go away with Sasuke actually there beside him again, looking like that.

"Eat your food before it gets cold." Sasuke said the moment Naruto opened his mouth, his own twitching like he was holding back a smile.

Naruto brought a bite up to his mouth without tasting much of anything. All he could think of was that he was the only one who Sasuke almost smiled at. On the rare occasion Sasuke had actually smiled at him, no almost about it at all. 

That had to mean something, right? 

*

Naruto's face hurt from smiling, spinning around to look back at the team. His team.  _ The team.  _ "Team Seven, finally back together. Can you believe it?"

"If we couldn't before, the ten times you've mentioned it since we left would have cleared that up."

"Shut up Sasuke." 

Sakura put a hand over her heart. "Wow, Naruto and Sasuke, back together and bickering again, can you believe it?"

Kakashi looked vaguely amused, somehow. Naruto didn't trust the way his eye was looking at them.

"Fine, I will just appreciate this moment of history alone." 

"Appreciate it alone, quietly. I know quiet must be a hard concept for you to understand, it's when you–"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Naruto gave up on trying not to laugh. "I know you're all happy too, I don't care what you say." 

Sakura rolled her eyes but she was still smiling. "No one's arguing that Naruto."

It felt rude but the moment she said the words Naruto found himself turning to look at Sasuke, wanting to see what his reaction would be. But it was Sasuke, so all he did was raise an eyebrow when he noticed Naruto watching him before looking away again. If Naruto had felt this way about literally anyone else he couldn't imagine it being nearly this difficult to figure out. But he wouldn't have been Sasuke if he wasn't making every moment impossible in some strange new way. It was one of Naruto's favorite things about Sasuke, he just didn't know what that said about him anymore.

"We should go over specifics," Kakashi said, speaking for the first time in what felt like hours.

"Do we even need to? This mission is pretty lame Kakashi, you couldn't have gotten us something better?"

"Shut up Naruto, I think weddings are lovely." Sakura had that dreamy quality to her voice that was so rarely there anymore. "I feel like you hardly ever hear about ninja actually getting married anymore either, so I think it's nice."

"Sure, it's nice, but this mission is going to be so dull! Do you think someone is actually going to attack them during the ceremony?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's not our mission to speculate, we're just going to provide protection in case something does." 

"Bo—ring." 

"Let it be boring." Just like always when Sauske spoke, Naruto's eyes were on him right away. "Maybe you could even learn how to relax while we're there."

"I know how to relax." But even as he said the words they didn't feel quite true. Naruto had been going for so long some days even just sitting down long enough to eat felt like a struggle. "I just think–"

Kakashi cut him off. "Have you ever been to a wedding Naruto? Have any of you?"

Naruto shook his head, hearing Sakura say the same.

"I went to my cousin's wedding when I was younger." Sasuke looked far away for a moment, not quite sad but nowhere near happy. "It was nice I guess."

Naruto had to fight back the irrational urge to run to Sasuke's side that he always had whenever Sasuke actually mentioned his family, as rare as that was. Sasuke being alive made him so blindingly happy, all Naruto wanted was for Sasuke to feel even a fraction of that for himself. But Naruto couldn't begin to imagine how Sasuke must have felt, and knew still that it was really just his own joy at having Sasuke by his side again that made him want to say it at all. 

Still, it was impossible not to wish for. "Well 'nice I guess' from you is practically a glowing endorsement, so maybe this won't be so bad." 

Sasuke looked at him, that smile without a smile on his face. But he didn't say a thing, something that was somehow both quiet and all there was to see coming over his expression. Naruto felt his chest go tight, wishing for an unknown he still didn't know how to let himself imagine.

"As I was saying," Kakashi went on, the amusement clear in his voice, "the plan."

Naruto made himself look away from Sasuke, knowing that he had to at least try and focus. This was still a mission after all, even if a mission hadn't felt so lacks since they were all covered in cat scratches.

*

The village was small but leaning towards extravagant, building designs Naruto had never seen before with high pointed roofs and sculptures that all seemed to have a look of pure pain on their face. Naruto couldn't really make sense of it, if you were going to immortalize an expression forever, wouldn't you want it to be a happy one? 

There was probably a reason he wasn't an artist.

The inn for the wedding was the only one in town but even if it hadn't been, Naruto still had no doubt it would have been the nicest. It had a fountain in the back garden and a dark wooden deck that wrapped around the entire building for each room to step out onto and enjoy. There was an almost painfully good smell coming from the kitchen when they arrived, and Naruto wondered just how rude it would be to ask when they could go eat right away. 

The woman who ran the inn was the bride's mother, and also the one who had apparently contracted them for this job. Within only minutes of meeting her Naruto had seen her yell at three different people on the inn staff, and insist Kakashi check each room before they went in because she was convinced someone was waiting to ruin her daughter's special day. Naruto kept making faces at Sasuke behind her back, and though Sasuke only rolled his eyes Naruto could tell he secretly thought it was funny, just from the quick way he had to pull his eyes away each time.

"The inn is two stories, so I booked you a room on each floor." She swept her eyes over the team again, her blue painted nails reflecting the lights hanging from the ceiling as she swept her hand across the air. "The rehearsal dinner is tonight with the actual ceremony tomorrow. Here are your room keys."

"Thank you. I'll let you know if we need anything else, but you have been more than thorough."

Naruto had to fake a sneeze just to hide his laugh inside the corner of his elbow. Even Kakashi was done with her already, and the glance he'd sent Sasuke had tripped Naruto over the edge. Sasuke never bothered to keep the annoyance off of his face for anyone. When she finally turned to walk away the team seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief. 

"Can me and Sasuke take the room upstairs?" It took Naruto half a moment to realize he'd just decided that they were rooming together all on his own, ignoring that he had immediately after. "I wanna try out that deck."

But no one seemed to notice, or if they did they didn't care. Kakashi simply handed Naruto the key and told them when and where to meet up in the morning, and that was that. Looking at the key in his palm Naruto couldn't avoid the fact that it would just be him and Sasuke all night for the first time, alone together in the same room. It wasn't like they were never alone together, it happened all the time, but something about it happening now, in arguably one of the nicest places Naruto had ever stayed left him feeling like his insides were painted with his nerves.

"Come on moron, I want to change out of these disgusting clothes."

Then again, it was only Sasuke. 

*

"You're a child."

Naruto stuck out his tongue where he was now laying on his bed, finally done bouncing from his running jump onto it. "I know you're jealous of my sweat bed diving skills Sasuke, don't lie."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, making sure Naruto saw him do it before he walked over to the door to the deck and went outside. Naruto could only wait half a moment before he pushed himself up from his bed and followed, stopping just outside the doorway before he could think about why.

Sometimes Sasuke was just too much for him to take in.

Naruto let himself look, knowing that for once there was no one else around to see him do it. Sasuke was leaning forward against the deck railing, the line of his back only slightly tensed. Nsruto knew that Sasuke knew he was watching him, but he always snapped at Naruto when it was really bothering him, so he wasn't worried. Plus, looking at the back of Sasuke's head like this was the only time he could look this long anymore. Even when it was hard to spot a blush on him most of the time, Naruto still didn't want to risk it.

"Stop watching me like a creep and come over here."

Naruto closed the distance between them quickly, stopping next to Sasuke as Naruto brought his arms forward to rest against the railing as well. He looked over with a smile. "I know they're paying us to be here, but it feels like a mistake. This place is too nice for someone like me, I'm gonna get us kicked out."

"It's not that nice, and you're not gonna get us kicked out."

"Not that nice? Did you see how many statues they had?"

Sasuke finally looked away from the setting sun, good humor just barely touching the corners of his expression. "Is that how you judge how nice a place is? The number of statues?"

"And we're on a deck that goes around the entire building, you can't pretend that isn't fancy."

Sasuke let out a breath of a laugh that was gone as soon as it started, but it never left his eyes. 

Naruto had to remind himself to keep breathing. "You know I'm right, I can see you trying to deny it."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he turned away again but it was Naruto's favorite version of it, with no real annoyance behind it at all, like Sasuke might have actually been happy, even if it lasted only a moment.

"I know I was complaining before, but I kind of wish we were staying more than just two nights now." Naruto made himself look away from Sasuke, realizing just how long his head had been turned when his neck ached for a moment to look straight ahead again. The sunset was almost over now, and he'd seen it all as nothing more than a reflection in Sasuke's eye. "I could get used to this."

Sasuke shifted next to him, pressing their shoulders together for the briefest moment. "You know you can get a place with a deck. Why not just move? You've lived in that apartment forever."

"Move?" Naruto was thrown and couldn't even say why. "But my place is fine."

"Do you even like it?"

"It's fine." Naruto didn't know where this conversation had come from, but it hardly made any sense to him. "I'm used to it, why would I move now?"

Sasuke didn't say anything for a moment, and then Naruto watched his hands push himself away from the railing. For a moment all Naruto could feel was regret that somehow this moment was over already, but then Sasuke just leaned his hip against the railing instead, facing Naruto fully. It took Naruto a moment too long to realize he was staring at Sasuke's waist and forced his eyes away, trying and failing to ignore the fact that Sasuke had been watching him the entire time.

"You should live somewhere you like," Sasuke said simply as the silence started to stretch out between them.

"It's not like I hate my place."

"But you don't like it."

"Do you like yours?" Naruto could hear himself getting defensive but felt no closer to understanding why, just knew this conversation put him on edge like he so rarely felt around Sasuke anymore.

Sasuke gave half a shrug. "I guess I don't hate it either."

"See?" Naruto laughed even though it felt strained. "I'll move when you do."

A flash of something came over Sasuke's face, gone again just as quickly. And then he just looked away, his expression enough to tell Naruto he wouldn't say anything more about it.

Naruto had to remind himself to turn away too, though he knew it took him far too long.

*

If the rehearsal dinner yesterday was anything to go by, this mission was going to be one of the dullest of Naruto's life. Even Sasuke was bored of it all. Sure, he'd told Naruto to shut up each time he'd tried to complain, but Naruto could see it in Sasuke's face; he didn't understand why they'd been assigned this mission either. 

Having to be dressed up like they were actually going to the wedding now was uncomfortable for a thousand reasons Naruto hadn't thought to worry about, and all but maybe two of those were wrapped up in Sasuke.

If Naruto had quietly begun to let himself call Sasuke pretty, he had no idea how to describe the way looking at Sasuke made him feel now. He'd never seen Sasuke so dressed up before, and the monotony of this mission made it all too easy for Naruto to lose himself in the other side of the room where Sasuke now stood, words Naruto had never imagined saying suddenly swarming him inside. Dull probably wasn't the right way to describe this mission at all, but Naruto knew it was the way he had to. 

Sakura walked up to Sasuke, leaning in briefing to tell him something obviously mission related, but all Naruto could see was how natural they looked together. It should have been easy to turn away, but even when it hurt Naruto didn't really know how to stop looking at Sasuke. Maybe once Sasuke being there stopped feeling so fragile, like any day Naruto could turn and find Sasuke lost to the wind again, maybe then Naruto would be able to finally turn away. 

That day still felt further than far off, like a spot on the horizon so far away you couldn't see it all at until you were right on top of it.

The wedding went by slowly, beautiful and uneventful. The couple seemed genuinely in love, and the sight of it touched Naruto more than he'd anticipated. By the time the ceremony was over and everyone was eating and dancing Naruto was tired, much more than he had any right to be from how little he'd had to do. Usually looking at something it felt like he would never have didn't bother him anymore, but something about this wedding wouldn't stop rubbing Naruto raw inside. It had been a long time since Naruto had felt this lonely in such a big crowd, an old feeling he'd actually half left himself believe he'd grown out of.

When Naruto looked up from where he'd been watching the floor he saw Sasuke walking over, a smile only half forced coming over his face. "Hey."

Sasuke only stopped when he reached the wall Naruto was leaned up against and did just the same, closer than Naruto was used to. Sasuke leaned his head in even closer to speak. "You know I hate saying this more than anything, but you were right."

Naruto was laughing before he could think about it, quieter than usual to match Sasuke's voice. "Yeah? Gonna need more specifics than that Sasuke, I'm right about a lot of stuff."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but Naruto was watching his mouth. "This mission is pointless for a team like ours."

Naruto felt a too big smile break out over his face, but it was hard to care for a moment. Close to nothing in the world made him as happy as hearing Sasuke talk about Team Seven that way,  _ ours,  _ like it was just a simple fact. "At least it won't last much longer."

"A couple people actually asked me to dance." Sasuke sounded as put out as someone could, like he couldn't believe they'd dared to ask him of all people to do something so frivolous. "I need this night to have been over an hour ago."

It was easy to laugh then, half at Sasuke and half at his own pointless anxieties. "What? No dance for me then?"

Sasuke looked as far from impressed as someone could. "There is no way you know how to dance."

Jirayah had forced Naruto to dance more than once, yelling out suggestions that Naruto had just ended up turning into a what not to do list all the while. He'd said Naruto would need to know, for whenever he found the right girl. Naruto smiled over the familiar flare of sadness beneath his ribs. "You don't know everything about me Sasuke."

"What, you seriously expect me to believe you want to dance?" 

The  _ with me  _ went unspoken but Naruto heard it all the same, seeing clear doubt in Sasuke's eyes. Naruto forced himself to shrug. "I wasn't planning on it, but yeah, sure."

"You're ridiculous."

"And you're stubborn. So, dance? Yes? No?"

Sasuke looked as thrown as Naruto felt, but he was probably doing a better job hiding it away than Naruto was. "We're on a mission."

"Okay?" Naruto gestured to the people around them, at all the nothing out of the ordinary that was still happening. "What, you can't seriously expect me to believe that this is taking so much of your focus that you can't do anything else."

"I didn't say that." Sasuke shifted just slightly, looking down and away so for a moment he was just the hair hanging before his face. 

Naruto knew how to spot embarrassment on Sasuke, he just couldn't think of– "Wait, do you not know how to dance Sasuke?"

Sasuke shot a glare his way, but there was no hiding the blush just starting to touch high on his cheekbones. "I didn't say that either."

"But can you?"

"It doesn't matter."

Naruto watched Sasuke shift so his back was against the wall, looking out at everything that wasn't Naruto. Knowing Sasuke would hate it, Naruto said it anyway. "You don't need to be embarrassed, I could show–"

Sasuke smacked Naruto's arm. "Shut up."

"I'm just–okay!" Naruto cut himself off when Sasume hit him again, laughing. "Okay, we can just stand here."

Sasuke let out a sigh the likes of which Naruto rarely heard from him when they weren't alone, but tucked away together against the far wall it felt strangely similar, even with people all around. "Yes, like we're supposed to be, for the mission."

"Right." Naruto felt his smile go too fond but made no move to pull it in, tracing the line of Sasuke's profile with his eyes over and over again. "This extremely difficult, highly engaging mission that clearly wasn't given to us just to make sure we could still be a team."

Sasuke bit his lip, sighing again before he finally looked back over. "You know what? Fine."

Naruto almost asked Sasuke if he was sure he was so surprised, but somehow Naruto managed to keep the question at bay. Instead he just smiled, so wide his face hurt a bit. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed off the wall. "Come on moron, let's get this over with."

With a ringing endorsement like that, how was Naruto supposed to do anything but follow? It was rare he was confident where Sasuke was unsure, so the part of him that should have been clogged up with nerves was almost too excited for them to do this to care.

When they were at the edge of the dance floor the song changed, going from upbeat and whimsical to slow and melodic, but Sasuke didn't stop walking so Naruto didn't either. He knew how to slow dance, if anything it was easier, but the idea of holding Sasuke like that in front of everyone had nerves flipping his stomach over time and time again. When they reached the back corner of the dance floor Sasuke turned back to him, an eyebrow raised expectantly. 

Pretending his insides weren't on fire, Naruto closed the distance between them in a few quick steps, taking Sasuke's left hand into his right while his right hand went low on Sasuke's side. They were close enough for Naruto to see Sasuke's eyes widen just slightly as the feeling, their eyes meeting for a moment before Sasuke looked away again. Naruto was about to prompt him but then Sasuke did it all on his own, his left hand coming up to rest on Naruto's shoulder. 

Naruto let out a breath he knew there was no way Sasuke could have missed, and then he slowly started to spin them. The steps weren't hard, he could hear his younger self in his head complaining how dull it all was, but Naruto felt as far from bored as someone could. Sasuke still wasn't looking at him, eyes scanning the perimeter like they both should have been, but Naruto couldn't seem to take his eyes off of Sasuke. The moment just felt so unreal. 

He was slow dancing with Sasuke. 

"I guess this isn't awful," Sasuke said quietly about halfway into the song, glancing at Naruto then away again. 

Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand. "I hated it when I learned, but I can see why people do this now."

Sasuke finally turned his head and looked at Naruto without turning away. "And why's that?"

It felt like there was no answer he could give that wouldn't give everything he was feeling away, and then the only thought in his head was the one dance suggestion Jirayah had given him that hadn't sounded completely awful. But Sasuke would probably kill him if he tried it.

Just imaging Sasuke's face was enough for Naruto to do it anyway.

Sasuke's eyes widened when Naruto's hand shifted to his lower back, clearly halfway to asking Naruto what he thought he was doing when Naruto pulled them flush together, leaning forward so Sasuke fell back into a dip. Even with no warning Sasuke still managed to make the movement look graceful, the line of his neck, the way his hair fell back in a sweep of the dark. It took Naruto just a moment longer than it should have to pull Sasuke back up.

Naruto was ready for anything from annoyance to actual anger, but Sasuke didn't seem to have a thing to say, not even pulling back so they were how they'd been before. Naruto started them in a slower circle than before, hand still low on Sasuke's back. For once he actually made an effort to keep his voice quiet. "Have my undeniable dance skills finally struck you speechless?"

Sasuke turned his head just slightly, all he could do really with how close they were. "One move is hardly undeniable skill." 

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Sasuke squeezed Naruto's hand, just this side of too hard. "Don't."

"Alright, alright, relax." Naruto kept telling himself to look away, watching as Sasuke's eyes drift away around the room, but that only made it that much harder. Getting to see Sasuke this close felt close to unfair, knowing that every moment after this would have to try and compare.

Naruto could tell he was being obvious, but they were supposed to blend into the wedding guests, so what harm was there in indulging his constant need to keep Sasuke close? If Sasuke had pushed him away even the smallest bit Naruto would have already stepped away and let them go back to leaning against the wall, but he hadn't. Somehow they were still hand in hand, dancing just a breath away from one another. 

It felt bigger than ridiculous that Naruto had actually complained about this mission only days ago, when it was giving him a moment like this now, something he'd never dared to even consider happening between the two of them. Naruto felt happy in a way that he never had before, quiet and private just beneath his chest, reaching out with each beat of his heart.

In between one half step and the next Sasuke let us head fall forward, resting the side of it along Naruto's shoulder. He brought their joined hands close to them, as his hand on Naruto's shoulder moved up to hold the back of his neck. 

Naruto let out a breath he knew Sasuke had to feel all over as close as they were, but it was all he could do. He was more holding Sasuke now than dancing, and it was all because Sasuke wanted him to be. Glancing down and to the side Sasuke was all dark hair and clothes, but the edge of his ear gave him away, faint pink that faded into a near deep red. Embarrassment on Sasuke was usually subtle, a barely there thing you had to know what to look for to find. Naruto felt near run over by it all now, by everything.

"What," Sasuke asked in a low voice, "have my undeniable dance skills struck you speechless?"

For a moment Naruto was exactly that, hardly able to remember to keep moving his feet, and then he laughed, somehow managing to keep the sound small when it wanted to be anything but. "Yeah, I think they have."

Naruto did a quick scan of the room, but everything still seemed like it was as it should. It seemed the only thing out of place was them, but even that wasn't quite right. It felt like they were both maybe finally exactly where they were supposed to be. 

So of course that was when the attack came, Sasuke pulling himself from Naruto's arms before Naruto could finish his next breath. 

*

The fight wasn't hard, they rarely ever were anymore, but it was still close to morning again by the time everything had been dealt with. They went back to their room because they still had it, and since they had just saved the hotel's owners daughter, she said they could check out whenever they wanted. 

Naruto wanted to check out now, itching to be back home in a way apparently no one else felt. But no one else was being quietly ignored by Sasuke like he was either. He couldn't quite be surprised, but it still stung in a way Naruto hadn't been prepared for. If they were arguing it would have been one thing, but the longer Sauske went without meeting his eyes the worse Naruto felt. It was like falling into the past in a way Naruto didn't know how to look at, like he was being followed around by a shadow of Sasuke, one that wouldn't speak or turn his way.

Maybe Naruto was just more tired than he'd realized. He fell back on his bed, dirty clothes and all with a sigh. 

"At least change first if you're not gonna shower."

It took Naruto a moment to raise his head, finding Sasuke still not looking his way, back towards him as Sasuke went through his bag. Naruto let his head fall back onto the bed with another sigh. 

It was over a minute before Sasuke spoke again. "What, are you ignoring me now?"

"Are you serious?" Naruto asked as he sat up, finding Sasuke sitting on the edge of his own bed, face in less than half profile as he looked out the far window. "You won't even look at me."

Sasuke's shoulders went tense, turning for half a moment before he seemed to just glare down at his own hands in his lap. "It's not like that."

Naruto wondered if Sasuke would ever make complete sense to him. After another moment of silence Naruto no longer knew how to stand he got up from his bed, walking over and sitting down next to Sasuke. The bed dipped beneath him, bringing their sides flush together for a moment before they evened out again. Naruto turned, doing nothing to disguise the way he was trying to take Sasuke in, but Sasuke had turned his head away completely, just dark hair and the pink tinted skin of his neck.

Oh. He was still embarrassed.

"Sasuke," Naruto started with no destination in mind, unable to help himself anymore and reaching out to touch, hand resting on Sasuke's far shoulder so his arm rested across his back. Sasuke tensed up for a moment and then seemed to relax all over, and Naruto let himself breathe again. "It's just me, we're alone now. Let me look at you."

Sasuke went tense again, but he finally turned. Naruto knew right away why Sasuke had hidden himself away, but he never wanted Sasuke to hide it away from him again. Naruto couldn't completely hold back his smile, watching as the blush on Sasuke's face deepened. 

Somehow Sasuke was still glaring. "Well? Happy now?"

"Why are you mad?" Naruto couldn't help but laugh a bit as he asked. As irritated as Sasuke clearly was, he had been right, Naruto was happy. It was impossible not to be right now, this close to Sasuke all alone, possibly moments away from everything Naruto couldn't stop thinking about.

"I'm not mad, I'm just–whatever. It's nothing."

"Come on." Naruto moved his hand from Sasuke's shoulder to the middle of his back, rubbing slightly up and down between Sasuke's shoulder blades. "What is it?"

Sasuke let out a quiet sigh, glancing away from him again. The bit of his ear peeking out between his hair was now a near deep red. "Who said you could touch me so much?"

"Want me to stop?"

It took a moment but eventually Sasuke shook his head, a barely there motion but undeniable all the same. 

Naruto was suddenly desperate for Sasuke to look at him again. "Sasuke."

Sasuke made a quiet sound, something that any other time would have been enough for Naruto to continue. But now he just waited. 

It took less time than he'd expect for Sasuke to turn, no longer glaring but Naruto didn't quite know what to call the look on his face now, only that he'd never seen it before. He hoped he was the only one who ever would, that Sasuke never looked at anyone else this way again, eyes just slightly too wide with a flush from ear to ear. 

"What?" Sasuke finally asked, voice softer than normal.

Whatever Naruto had been planning on saying left him. "I can't stop thinking about how pretty you are."

Sasuke blinked before taking in a sharp breath, moving to pull away.

"Wait," Naruto said in a rush, reaching out with his other hand to hold the far side of Sasuke's face, turning it back towards him. Sasuke stopped pulling away all at once, looking down at their legs rather than meet Naruto's eyes again. "I just–I like you. A lot. Probably more than a lot actually."

"Please stop talking."

"Why? Because you're embarrassed?"

Sasuke lifted his head, looking right at Naruto again. "I'm not embarrassed."

"No?" Naruto realized his thumb was slowly stroking Sasuke's cheekbone, but couldn't get himself to stop. "Tell me how you feel about me then."

"I feel like you're being annoying."

"Sasuke."

"I–" Sasuke almost looked lost, younger than he had in so long. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"Anything," Naruto started, trying again when that didn't quite feel true, "Why you're so embarrassed by all of this, when we both know if you didn't want to be here with me you wouldn't be."

Sasuke's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, something like a grimace coming over him before his face cleared. When he met Naruto's eyes again Sasuke's were wide and dark, shining with too much for Naruto to take in all at once. Sasuke leaned into his hand ever so slightly. "Because I don't know how to deal with getting something I've wanted this badly."

It took Naruto a beat to make sense of Sasuke's words, and then he was smiling so wide his face ached. "Sasuke, you think I'm pretty too?"

"Moron." Sasuke rolled his eyes, but nothing about him looked truly annoyed in the slightest. He looked near the happiest Naruto had ever seen him, despite obviously doing everything he could to hide it.

All at once all Naruto could feel was how desperately he needed to close the distance between them, to finally know what Sasuke's mouth felt like beneath his own without a fall behind it. But leaning in now just felt like falling from an even higher height, like by the time their lips touched Naruto would have no hope of seeing the ground at all. 

Sasuke's lips parted in surprise the moment Naruto's touched them, letting out a soft gasp. Naruto had told himself to keep the kiss short and simple when he'd leaned in, but that felt near impossible now that it was actually happening. Sasuke's mouth was so soft against his own, and with each little shift Sasuke seemed to relax against him more, slowly leaning into him all over. Naruto moved his hand on Sasuke's jaw to the back of his neck, tilting Sasuke even more into the kiss as their tongues just barely touched. It was Sasuke who eventually pulled back, breath heavy and now truly flushed all over. 

Naruto bit his lower lip, trying to remember how to speak in full sentences. Sasuke looked so good it almost hurt, but Naruto couldn't imagine ever wanting to turn away. "Is this okay?"

Sasuke just barely nodded, his eyes stuck on Naruto's mouth. 

All Naruto could do was lean back in.

Without quite knowing how Naruto found them laying back on the bed with Sasuke's half on top of him, arms wrapped around each other with their legs loosely intertwined. Naruto felt as hot as he ever had, near burning at every point him and Sasuke touched. It felt like he only needed Sasuke even closer still, but with the way his hand was gripping Sasuke's lower back and subtly pulling Sasuke down against him, Naruto couldn't dare to ask for more now.

All of this already felt like it was happening all at once, for something that had taken them years and years to get to. 

Only when his mouth felt near raw did Naruto make himself pull back, not ready for the sight of Sasuke so close to him still, mouth red and slightly parted. Naruto didn't know how it had taken him so long to see this, to realize that this was always what he'd wanted with Sasuke deep down, regardless of what he'd told himself about his heart racing away in his chest each time they'd looked at each other before.

Naruto moved a hand to hold Sasuke's face again, thumb just barely brushing his bottom lip. "Sasuke."

"What?" 

But there was no reason, he'd– "I just like saying it. Especially when you're right here."

For half a moment Sasuke reacted just like Naruto thought he would, face twisted up in annoyed embarrassment as he started to look away, but then he stopped, letting out a soft sigh. He looked right at Naruto, bringing up one of his own hands to hold Naruto's against the side of his face as he leaned into it. 

"Especially when you're–" Naruto started without thought, letting his voice trail off, eyes stuck on a looping path of Sasuke's face. The line of his jaw, the bridge of his nose, the soft skin just beneath his eyes. The way his lips curved to say Naruto's name. 

"Naruto," Sasuke said again, quieter than anyone ever had before, like it was something only for them, "when I'm what?"

Naruto looked back up to Sasuke's eyes, finding every word he had inside just wasn't enough. "I don't know how to say it right."

"Say it wrong then."

"I just–you know how important you are to me." Naruto let out a shaky breath, unable to resist and leaning up and in, kissing Sasuke for a long, breathless moment. "Ever since I realized I felt this way, I haven't been able to stop thinking that this is it for me."

Sasuke dropped his hand from Naruto's as he shifted on top of him, moving his legs to either side of Naruto's hips he leaned down, kissing the side of Naruto's neck, his jaw, the corner of his mouth. "This?"

Naruto moved both his hands to Sasuke's back, trailing them down lower, and lower, and lower. "Yeah, this, you and me. Whatever you want to call it. Us."

"Us," Sasuke repeated softly, eyes warmer than Naruto had ever seen, "I guess I could get used to that."

"Can–" but then Sasuke was kissing him again, and any more words Naruto could have said felt far away and unimportant. Everything he'd ever wanted was right here, somehow after all this time. Sasuke was even bigger than that, simple words like want and need. He was the air in Naruto's lungs, the blood rushing through his heart, the bones holding him together regardless of everything life tried to break against him. 

Naruto held them together even tighter, wishing there was a way for them to never part again at all. He whispered Sasuke's name against his mouth, just because he could.

*

Holding hands was probably Naruto's new favorite thing. Sasuke was too embarrassed to kiss him in public, though that was never the reason he'd give when Naruto tried. But holding hands, though he'd bristle and blush and pretend at bitterness, Sasuke never pulled away from it. From a walk to the store to laying out on their mats to sleep during a mission, Sasuke always let Naruto hold his hand.

Naruto was so happy it was hard to believe, near floating through his days in a way he'd never dreamed possible before. 

He was being what he knew Sasuke would describe as a creep now, but he just couldn't seem to look away. Sasuke was still asleep beside him, usually already awake and out of bed by the time Naruto woke up, and he just couldn't bring himself to look away from it now, especially since that wasn't all. They were holding hands, something they hadn't been doing when Naruto had fallen asleep, so it had to have been Sasuke. Sasuke had reached out for him, so Naruto couldn't pull away now.

For a long time nothing changed, and then Sasuke was just barely squeezing Naruto's hand back. "I can feel you watching me."

Sasuke's voice was still half asleep, words slow and blurred. Naruto had to lean in and kiss him, just as soft and slow. He could hardly bring himself to pull away. 

Sasuke's nose scrunched up. "We have morning breath, stop."

"If we both have it, then what does it matter?" But he shifted back the smallest bit all the same, squeezing Sasuke's hand for a beat.

Sasuke yawned, long and unconcerned and clearly at odds with his words before he finally opened his eyes, still blearly with sleep. "Morning."

"Morning." Naruto felt his smile go too big, but he just couldn't help it. It was ridiculous that morning breath could make someone this happy, but everything about Sasuke seemed to make him this happy now. "Want me to go grab us breakfast?"

"No." Sasuke let his eyes close again with a sigh as he leaned forward, tucking himself to Naruto's side, face pressed into his neck. His voice was half a mumbled, the words hardly spoken at all. "You're warm, just stay here for awhile."

"Sure," Naruto said easily, wrapping an arm around Sasuke's back, "whatever you want."

Apparently what Sasuke wanted was to wait long enough for Naruto to be on the edge of sleep again before deciding he did want that breakfast if he was going to face another day of unpacking their new place, but even that was fine. It wasn't like Naruto ended up making the walk by himself, and Sasuke's fingers intertwined with his own the whole way made even the stubborn chill on the air feel far away. 

**Author's Note:**

> comments keep me going in this endless quarantine 💜


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